Smoking appliance

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a smoking appliance and includes first and second chambers connected by a conduit to permit the passage of air from one to the other through a quantity of lighted tobacco. A source of compressed air is connected to one of the chambers and a flexible tube including a mouthpiece is connected to the other chamber whereby smoke may be delivered under pressure to the mouthpiece. In a preferred embodiment, the chamber to which the flexible tube is attached contains a quantity of water through which the smoke is forced by the pressurized air supply before it flows into the outlet tube. The tobacco itself may be ignited by means of a flame-type lighter mounted within one of the chambers or by electrical means wherein a resistance element is positioned underneath the tobacco across the flow of fresh air to the tobacco.

United States Patent Guarnieri L 1 1 June 17, 1975 15 1 SMOKINGAPPLIANCE 3.528.435 9/1970 Morrissey .1 131/171 R 4 [76] Inventor: JamesGuarnieri, 4809 Blackfoot 3 804 I00 H974 Famlk) [31/173 Rd. College P kMd, 20740 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Sept. 5.457 France l3l/l73[21] Appl. No.: 400,167 Primary Examiner-Joseph S. Reich s21 US. Cl.131/185; 131/205; 131/224; 1571 ABSTRACT 131/171 R; 131/173 Theinvention relates to a smoking appliance and in- [51] Int. Cl A24147/00; A241 1/30 cludes first and second chambers connected by a con-[58] Field of S h 131/171 R, 172, 173 185 duit to permit the passage ofair from one to the other 131/205, 224, 215 B through a quantity oflighted tobacco. A source of compressed air is connected to one of thechambers [56] References Cit d and a flexible tube including amouthpiece is con- UNITED STATES PATENTS nected to the other chamberwhereby smoke may be delivered under pressure to the mouthpiece. In apreferred embodiment, the chamber to which the flexible 683'339 M901Schulz": 131/205 tube is attached contains a quantity of water through57:77 o g s F m n 131/1 5 which the smoke is forced by the pressurizedair sup- [$82,670 4/1926 Eckelmans 1 1 1 7 ply before it flows into theoutlet tube. The tobacco 2.467902 4/1949 Atkins 131/224 X itself may beignited by means of a flame-type lighter 2.549.727 4/1951 Van T011 11131/185 mounted within one of the chambers or by electrical 171715079ll95 Rogers l31/135 X means wherein a resistance element is positionedun- H58 0/1963 l l31/l73 derneath the tobacco across the flow of freshair to 3,39%710 7/1968 Pmg-Chuan l31/l73 the tobacco 3.401723 9/1968 Hu131/185 1476.119 11/1969 Walton t. 131/171 R 1 Claim, 6 Drawing FiguresSHEET PATENTEUJUH 17 2975 own 4 Fig.

SMOKING APPLIANCE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is presently commonpractice in the smoking art for the smoker to draw fresh air through aquantity of lighted tobacco in a receptacle by creating a vacuum at themouthpiece of the device. Since this method of smoking requires ofnecessity that the burning tobacco be exposed to the environment withits many variable conditions such as rain, high winds. etc., the smokeris somewhat at the mercy of the elements both from the standpoint oflighting the tobacco as well as smoking the device. Furthermore, thenecessity that the smoker exert an effort to reverse the natural draftof a lighted pipe in order that smoke might be withdrawn therefrom isoften laborious. This is frequently the case when smoking a water pipesince the smoke must be drawn downward through a quantity of liquid forcooling and filtering purposes.

Additionally. a hazard encountered by smokers in many circumstances isthe possibility that a fire or ex plosion may be caused by exposing thelighted tobacco to flammable materials. Smoking in bed. in boats andother vehicles or while working with volatile fluids are only a fewexamples of potentially hazardous smoking environments.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is therefore. an object of this invention toprovide a self-contained smoking appliance wherein the lighted tobaccois isolated from the surrounding environment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a smoking appliancewhich reduces the effort required to draw smoke through a quantity oflighted tobacco.

Another object of this invention is to provide a smoking appliance whichreduces the effort required to draw smoke through the cooling andfiltering fluid in a water pipe or the like.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a smoking appliancewherein the effect of environmental conditions on lighting and smokingare minimized.

A further object of this invention is to provide a selfcontained smokingappliance wherein varying oxygencontaining mixtures of gases may besupplied to the burning tobacco.

A still further object of this invention is to reduce the hazard ofcausing a fire or an explosion while smoking.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent uponreading the specification with reference to the appropriate drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a smoking applianceincluding first and second airtight chambers and means associated withthe chambers for permitting a gas to flow therebetween. It furtherincludes a receiver for holding the quantity of lighted tobacco. coolingmeans supported within one of the chambers for cooling the smoke as itpasses through the chamber. conduit means for withdrawing smoke from thelast-mentioned chamber and a source of air under pressure connected tothe other chamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is an elevational view of oneembodiment of the invention with portions thereof shown in section;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of another embodiment of the inventionwith portions thereof shown in section;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of yet another embodiment of the inventionwith portions thereof shown in section;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the tobacco holder and igniter forming aportion of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the mouthpiece forming a part ofthe present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of FIG. 5 taken along line 6-6 and viewed inthe direction of the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The form of the inventionillustrated in FIG. 1 includes a base receptacle or chamber 10 which isdesigned to hold a quantity of water or other appropriate cooling liquid12. Combustion chamber 14 is threadedly secured to receptacle ]0 bymeans of cooperating threads 16 and is provided with a removable cap I8secured thereto by means of threads 20. It should be noted thatreceptacle l0, chamber 14 and cap 18 are secured to one another in sucha manner that they form a substantially airtight unit. A seal 21 issecured to chamber 14 and prevents the passage of gases therefrom intoreceptacle 10.

A tank or container 22 filled with compressed air is connected tochamber 14 by means of flexible tube 24, the latter passing into chamber14 through seal 26. Tube 24 may be provided with a valve 28 to adjustthe amount of pressurized air which is permitted to flow into combustionchamber 14. It should be noted that tank 22 may contain pressurizedatmospheric air. oxygen enriched air or any other mixture of gases whichmay be desired in order to produce a smoke having particularcharacteristics. Furthermore. tank 22 may be replaced by a compressorwhich merely increases the pressure of the ambient air before it isintroduced into chamber 14.

A connecting conduit 30 passes from chamber 14 through seal 21 intoreceptacle 10 at a point below a surface of cooling fluid 12. It may beprovided with a conically shaped tobacco receptacle 32 having a screenor other gas permeable floor 34 to support the tobacco T and yet permitthe flow of smoke and air from chamber 14 through conduit 30. A butaneor other flametype lighter 36 may be mounted in the wall of chamber 14and positioned such that a flame directed from its nozzle 38 will ignitethe tobacco T supported within receptacle 32.

A flexible withdrawal tube 40 passes into receptacle 10 above thesurface of cooling liquid 12 through sealing stopper 42. Tube 40 isprovided with a mouthpiece 44 and a valve 46, the latter for the purposeof regulating the amount of smoke passing through mouthpiece 44.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the valve 46 is preferably of thestopcock-type wherein a core 48 is rotatably mounted within a housing 50with the flow of fluid through passageways 52, 54 and 56 determined bythe degree of alignment of passageway 52 with passageways 54 and 56. Aknob or handle 58 may be provided to assist in rotating core 48.

The device operates as follows:

Valve 28 is opened thereby permitting the pressurized air from tank 22to flow into combustion chamber 14. Valve 46 is opened to permit thepressurized air in chamber 14 to flow through tobacco T, connectingconduit 30, up through cooling fluid l2 and finally through tube 40.When a flow of air has been established through tobacco T, it is ignitedby directing a flame from lighter 36 thereon. The device may be smokedby opening valve 28 sufficiently to force the smoke created by thesmoldering tobacco T down into water l2 where it is cooled and filteredas it rises to the surface. The addition of the smoke and air mixtureinto receptacle through connecting conduit 30 will raise the pressuretherein sufficiently to force the smoke through tube into the mouth ofthe smoker. By opening and closing valve 46, he may control the times atwhich smoke is expelled from the device.

An alternate manner of using the device would be to adjust the pressureof the air within chamber 14 to the point at which near-equilibriumconditions exist between chamber l4 and receptacle 10. Under theseconditions, the creation of only a slight vacuum within mouthpiece 44 bythe smoker will upset the equilibrium thereby causing the smoke to bebubbled through the cooling liquid 12.

Since the smoking device is self-contained and at no time either duringlighting or smoking is a flame exposed to the ambient, weatherconditions such as rain or high wind or the presence of flammablesubstances will have no effect on the smoking thereof.

The embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 2 includes an outerhousing which comprises receptacle 62, a combustion portion 64 securedto receptacle 62 by means of threaded connection 66 and a removable capmember 68 adapted to be threadedly connected at 70 to combustion portion64. The receptacle 62 is so designed that a quantity of cooling liquid72 may be contained therein.

Tobacco receptacle 74 is supported within combustion chamber 64 by meansof a bracket 76 or the like and includes a screen or other poroussupporting member 78 near the lower portion thereof to support aquantity of tobacco T. A convoluted cooling conduit 80, which isdisposed within cooling liquid 72, is connected at one end to receptacle74 and at the other end to withdrawal tube 82. A resilient seal 84provides an airtight connection between conduit 80 and tube 82 as wellas preventing the leakage of air or smoke from housing 60. Withdrawaltube 82 may be provided with a mouthpiece and valve similar tomouthpiece 44 and valve 46 illustrated in FIG. I. A butane or otherflametype lighter 86 may be mounted within combustion portion 64 for thepurpose of igniting the tobacco T supported within receptacle 74.

Air or another gaseous mixture may be introduced under pressure intohousing 60 by means of balloon 88 which has been stretched around theneck 90 of cap 68. It would be obvious however, to employ other sourcesto supply the pressurized gas to housing 60. As was the case with theembodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. I, it is desirable thathousing 60 be relatively airtight so that the smoke or supply ofair isnot permitted to leak therefrom.

In operation. balloon 88 is filled with air and stretched around neck90. The valve (not shown) on withdrawal tube 82 is then opened to createa flow of air through tobacco T. conduit 80 and tube 82. If the pressurewithin housing 60 is greater than that of the ambient. the smokegenerated by the smoldering tobacco will be forced through conduit 80,where it is (ill cooled by liquid 72, and then through withdrawal tube82 to the mouthpiece (not shown).

In a further modification of the invention (FIG. 3) the tobacco T may beignited by electrical means. The combustion chamber 92 is supported byreceptacle 94 and includes a removable cap 96 secured thereto by meansof cooperating threads 98. An annular sea] 100 maintains the unitairtight.

Air or another gas under pressure is supplied to the lower portion ofcombustion chamber 92 through a flexible tube 102 which is connected tochamber 92 through a resilient connector 104. A valve 106 regulates theflow of the pressurized gas from tank 108. A rigid conduit Ill] issupported within chamber 92 by means of a resilient seal I12 throughwhich it passes. Receptacle 94 is adapted to hold a quantity of coolingliquid 114 such as water which surrounds the lower portion I16 ofconduit 1I0. It should be noted that seal I12 prevents the passage ofsmoke and air from combustion chamber 92 into receptacle 94 so that allof the gas flow must occur through conduit 110. The smoke may bewithdrawn from receptacle 94 by means of withdrawal tube 118 connectedthereto by means of seal 120. Tube 18 may be provided with a mouthpieceand valve assembly (not shown) similar to that shown in FIG. 1.

The tobacco T is supported within combustion cham ber 92 on a screen orwire mesh 122 through which an electrically resistive wire I24 passes.When the lead wires 126 and 128 are connected to a suitable source ofcurrent such as battery I29 and switch 130 is closed, the resistiveelement 124 will generate a sufficient amount of heat to ignite thetobacco T.

The device operates follows:

Valve 106 is opened sufficiently to cause the pressurized gas withintank 108 to flow upwardly through screen 122 and tobacco T thendownwardly through conduit 110. If switch 130 is then closed. thetobacco T will be ignited and the smoke generated thereby forceddownwardly through conduit to be cooled and filtered as it bubbles tothe surface of liquid H4 and then drawn off from receptacle 94 throughwithdrawal tube 8. Since the pressurized air from tube 102 passes aroundand comes into intimate contact with the glowing resistive element 124,the tobacco T is ignited much more evenly than is the case withconventional resistance igniters. As was the case with the embodimentshown in FIG. 1, the air pressure within combustion chamber 92 may beadjusted to either force the smoke through tube I18 when the mouthpiecevalve (not shown) is opened or to create equilibrium conditions betweenchambers 98 and 94 such that a slight vacuum must be created at themouthpiece by the smoker before the smoke will be forced through conduitIll) into the cooling liquid H4.

While this invention has been described having a preferred design. itwill be understood that it is capable of further modification, Thisapplication is. therefore, intended to cover any variations. uses oradaptations of the invention following the general principles thereofand including such departures from the present disclosure as come withinknown or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains.and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forthand fall within the scope of this invention or the limits of theappended claims.

I claim:

6 l. A smoking appliance comprising: 0. said screen being adapted tosupport a quantity of a. receptacle means having a fluid passagewaylighted tobacco, and

therein, d. a heat generating, electrically resistive wire woven b. agas permeable screen mounted within said recepinto said screen.

taclc means and positioned across said passageway. 5

1. A smoking appliance comprising: a. receptacle means having a fluidpassageway therein, b. a gas permeable screen mounted within saidreceptacle means and positioned across said passageway, c. said screenbeing adapted to support a quantity of lighted tobacco, and d. a heatgenerating, electrically resistive wire woven into said screen.